posted at 4:54 pm on July 22, 2010 by Allahpundit

Serious business, and another talking point for the GOP ahead of November. Time for Rangel, who turned 80 last month, to decide he wants to spend more time with the grandkids?

Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel, the former chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, committed an undisclosed ethics violation, a House investigatory subcommittee determined Thursday…

The formation of subcommittee, which will consist of four Democrats and four Republicans, is rare. The last time one was convened was in 2002 to handle the case of former Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, who was under investigation in connection with bribery, racketeering and tax evasion convictions…

Rangel, D-N.Y., has been under a lengthy probe by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for a series of ethics allegations that includes failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets, improper use of several rent-controlled apartments in his Harlem district, fundraising efforts for a college center that bears his name, and failing to pay taxes on property he owns in the Dominican Republic.

This is five months in the making, starting with his admonishment back in February over staff members having accepted free trips to the Caribbean and culminating a week later in his removal from Ways and Means — albeit supposedly only on a temporary basis. Anyone think he’ll be returning to the committee after this, even if he beats the rap?

The next step is a trial by subcommittee. Given that the most ethical Congress ever had a decidedly lackluster reputation on ethics until now, I wonder how much pressure for and against charging Rangel there is on the Democratic side. On the one hand, this is going to push ethics back on the campaign menu. On the other, if they beat up on Rangel, it makes them look forthright. Stand by for updates.

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I went to his announcement lunch and he is exactly what we need in congress. But, it’s a shame most don’t recognize those traits. I just ran for congress in the 2nd district NJ republican primary, and I am AMAZED at the apathy and ignorance of the American voter.

I went to his announcement lunch and he is exactly what we need in congress. But, it’s a shame most don’t recognize those traits. I just ran for congress in the 2nd district NJ republican primary, and I am AMAZED at the apathy and ignorance of the American voter.

xler8bmw on July 22, 2010 at 7:28 PM

Thank you VERY much for running for office xler8bmw!

Having volunteered on several Congressional campaigns, I KNOW what a patriotic sacrifice it is to run for office!!! It is a 24/7 project that completely takes over your life!

Most Voters have absolutely no idea how hard candidates work every day for months (or years, in some cases)to run for office.

If Voters understood how hard the candidates are working, perhaps they would be more willing to help them. Or to at least take the time to be an informed Voter!

With easy access to Google and YouTube, Voters owe it to the candidates and their country to become informed and to make the best decisions they can on their election ballots!

If we want to be represented by people with INTEGRITY at the Federal, State and Local levels, we need to work hard to help good people get elected!

Didn’t Charlie Rangel say publicly that his constituents want to be able to keep and bear arms? He’s left the Left’s plantation, folks, and is no longer an Ideologue Under Protection.

njcommuter on July 22, 2010 at 7:50 PM

Charlie Rangel was put into office when I was a kid in P.S. 113 or P.S. 132 (can’t remember). I left NYC in 1974 during/after the riots. Charlie led them.

As a kid, I could remember Charlie on the street in Queens with a bullhorn, (Corner of Hillside and Jamaica Ave) yelling at Italians, Irish, Blacks, Germans that had hot dog stands. He was a “shake down poppa”. The vendors had to pay him .42 for every $1.00 they earned.

Kids back then were allowed to leave school grounds in recess. If you went to an Irish, Italian, Black, German or Jewish you had to to have an extra .25 for Charlie. It was better than going through school lunch lines in 1967-1969, because there were food fights, fires in bathrooms, etc., in NYC.

Like Rush said today on his show, every government official should have to run every year…then they will have to pay attention to what’s going on all of the time….RUSH ROCKS! Let’s work on that…..term limits to one year for everyone!

Thx for that informative flashback. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you learn something new. One more reason to thank God, Providence, or the Magic 8-Ball, that I was born and raised in the sticks.

No no….thank you wren. I will be donating to Rev Faulkner tonight. You are right…we need some integrity…for a change. I live in western NY so I’m not in the Manhattan area, but my money is going to those that have that strange word…..integrity. GO FAULKNER!

“We have the opportunity to impose our own term limits every 2 years by voting bad Reps out of office!”

wren on July 22, 2010 at 7:44 PM

Evidently the sheeple allow the wool to keep being pulled over their eyes. Many voters prove time and again they really shouldn’t be allowed to vote because they are not responsible citizens, or are brain dead.

At least the Republican sleazebags tried to hide their crimes. Rangel practically dared anyone to bring charges against him! He assumed his massive power in congress would protect him from any investigation…and it worked for many years! So powerful, in fact, that few in the media would even mention his corruption! Until now, that is.

Charlie Rangel was put into office when I was a kid in P.S. 113 or P.S. 132 (can’t remember). I left NYC in 1974 during/after the riots. Charlie led them.

As a kid, I could remember Charlie on the street in Queens with a bullhorn, (Corner of Hillside and Jamaica Ave) yelling at Italians, Irish, Blacks, Germans that had hot dog stands. He was a “shake down poppa”. The vendors had to pay him .42 for every $1.00 they earned.

Kids back then were allowed to leave school grounds in recess. If you went to an Irish, Italian, Black, German or Jewish you had to to have an extra .25 for Charlie. It was better than going through school lunch lines in 1967-1969, because there were food fights, fires in bathrooms, etc., in NYC.

Rich Galen on the Fred Thompson Show now, talking of Rangel, said that the White House started the “racist food fight” telling the NAACP to come out with the proclamation tagging Obama’s political opposition, the Tea Party, as racist.

Does being charged by the house actually mean anything?
Can they just remove him from office or is it also a criminal charge?

Tc0061 on July 22, 2010 at 5:20 PM

He’s not being charged by the House, but by the ethics committee which means that they have found sufficient reason to begin a formal investigation. The sad thing is that the ethics committee has no teeth and can only make recommendations based on it’s findings, which then go to a floor vote. This could run the gamut from censure to expulsion from the house. I seriously doubt that anything stronger than censure will pass in a democratically controlled congress despite Nazi Pelosi’s (horses Winny in distance) alleged desire to “drain the swamp”. As far as criminal charges, he would fall back on the “arrest clause” in the Constitution as long as he is a member of the House. While I would love to see Charlie answer for his crooked ways, I just can’t see it happening on this.

hey evabody! I just realized who Charlie Rangel’s secret father is, or should I say….Godfather? Just listen to his voice. It’s a dead ringer for that of Frank Pentangeli, a capo da regime in Michael Corleone’s organized crime syndicate.

The FBI Hearings
“I never knew no godfather. I got my own family, senator.”
“Mr. Pentangeli, you are contradicting a sworn statement you’d previously made to me and signed. I ask you again, sir, here and now under oath…were you at anytime a member of a crime organization… headed by Michael Corleone?” “Senator, I knew Micheal’s dad when we was in the olive oil business. But I don’t know no Godfather.”
―Frank Pentangeli and the Chairman of the Committee

And coming soon, The Senate Ethics Hearings
“I never knew no President Obama. I got my own staff, Senator Boehner.” “Mr. Rangel, you are contradicting a sworn statement you’d previously made to me and signed. I ask you again, sir, here and now under oath….were you at any time a member of a crime organization known as the Democrat Party…headed by Barack Hussein Obama?” “Senator, I knew Obama back when we was in the politician business together. But I don’t know no president.”
-Charlie Rangel and the Chairman of the Ethics Committee